Citrix Systems Inc. is known for its virtual private networking, or VPN software, a technology very much in demand these days as much of the world’s employee base works from home.

The company has been forced to adapt to the new realities of remote work itself, which has meant a close partnership between Citrix’s information technology and human resources organizations.

“That partnership between IT and HR is critical,” said Donna Kimmel (pictured, left), executive vice president and chief product officer of Citrix. “We’re almost like the new ‘BFFs’ in order to drive the right experience so our employees can be as productive as possible.”

Kimmel spoke with Dave Vellante, chief analyst at SiliconANGLE sister market research firm Wikibon and co-host of SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio theCUBE. She was joined by Meerah Rajavel (pictured, right), chief information officer of Citrix, and they discussed how IT and HR work collaboratively within Citrix to enable remote work productivity for employees and the emergence of new business models after the current pandemic crisis is over. (* Disclosure below.)

Focus on business continuity

With over $3 billion in annual revenue and 99% of the Fortune 500 as customers, Citrix suddenly found itself, like most organizations around the globe, having to maintain its extensive operations in the face of a pandemic that closed corporate offices.

“This became almost a forced opportunity to focus on business continuity,” Kimmel said. “In the past, it would be really easy for managers to say: ‘I don’t think my team could work remotely or your job isn’t possible to do remotely.’ Many jobs can actually be done remotely if they’re provided with the right tools and right resources.”

The responsibility for making sure that Citrix employees had the right resources to work from kitchen tables or work spaces hastily arranged in their bedrooms fell to the IT staff. The approach Citrix deployed was largely based on what Rajavel referred to as the “three C’s”: connectivity, content and collaboration.

“The physical space when we are in an office location is not something that we can control anymore, so the digital space really needs to compensate,” Rajavel explained. “It’s all about information sharing and content sharing. It’s the ability for employees to have the right data in the right place so they can make decisions and be productive.”

Long-lasting change

As Citrix teams from across the organization collaborate to remain productive in new work environments, there is a growing realization that the coronavirus may result in long-lasting changes among key sectors of the enterprise world.

“Coming out of COVID, there’s going to be new industries, new business models that are going to emerge,” said Rajavel, who cited previous reluctance by some to have injuries or illnesses diagnosed by physicians remotely. “We’ve been very hesitant, yet today pretty much everybody is getting telemedicine. The businesses that have talent with digital dexterity are the ones that are going to win.”

While the global pandemic forced sudden changes for Citrix, the company has been evaluating the benefits of remote work for some time. As outlined on a company blog post in October, one employee cited research which showed that at least 95% of knowledge workers would prefer to work from home at least half the week.

“What Meerah and I and the IT and HR organizations are doing together is truly understanding what it means to enable productivity for employees,” Kimmel said. “How we approach these new problems and these new ways of thinking about getting work done is all about what our minds block us from thinking. This pushed us into a situation where we’ve been able to enable roles that we didn’t ever think could be done remotely.”

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s CUBE Conversations. (* Disclosure: Citrix Systems Inc. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither Citrix nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE